Oscar winner Adrien Brody brings his magic to small screen with 'Houdini'

Friday

Aug 29, 2014 at 6:00 AMAug 30, 2014 at 10:51 AM

By Brooks Barnes THE NEW YORK TIMES

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — It's not because the guy needs an acting coach. He can be mesmerizing on screen and has an Oscar to prove it. His work ethic is most definitely not the reason. He starved himself for one part, gained 25 pounds for another and has gone to other extremes — wetting his pants, for instance — when a role has required it.

He has a reputation in Hollywood as loyal and affable. Women seem to find him sexy, at least judging by the knockouts he dates.

So why has Adrien Brody's studio career been in such a lull? Despite appearing in smaller films like Wes Anderson's "Grand Budapest Hotel" and landing the title role in the History Channel's coming "Houdini" miniseries, Brody, 41, has only been in one major studio film in the last nine years: "Predators," a science-fiction movie from 20th Century Fox.

"I think that perhaps I have confused people with my approach to work," Brody said. "There are people who make a career in Hollywood by being a type. They earn more money. They have more opportunities. But I don't think actors should restrict themselves that way."

In an alternate universe — one where Hollywood lets men with character-actor faces play romantic leads, and studios make casting decisions based on talent and not foreign box-office algorithms — Brody would most likely be able to play any part he wanted. But this is reality, darn it, and instead of wallowing in frustration, Brody seems to have decided to roll with the punches.

"I'd love to be doing movies with scope and scale, but as much as I do think studios appreciate me as an actor, they are not coming directly to me," he said, speaking from a nook at the Sunset Marquis Hotel here. "I can't wait for the tide. I have to swim."

He sure is working a lot. Brody has six independent films in various states of completion, including "The Septembers of Shiraz," a movie about an affluent, Jewish family caught in Iran's Islamic Revolution that has "awards run" written all over it. (Producers hope to introduce it at either the Cannes or Berlin film festival next year.) A few months ago, Brody formed his own production company, which has $50 million in funding from a Nigerian energy magnate, Kola Aluko, and an anonymous Chinese investor; the company aims to make movies with significant box-office prospects, sometimes in partnership with studios.

"The goal is to develop the material that I crave that doesn't necessarily come to me," Brody said of his new company, Fable House. "The projects will all have me in a pivotal role, whether directing, producing or being a protagonist in the film. China is a particular focus. I'm big in China for some reason. It's kind of weird."

And he is taking a calculated risk with "Houdini," which the History Channel will run for two nights starting Sept. 1. The miniseries tells the entire Harry Houdini tale, from his unsuccessful start as a carnival magician to global celebrity as an escape artist to his later years wrestling with the spiritualism movement. Kristen Connolly, known for playing a congressional staffer on "House of Cards," appears as Houdini's wife, Bess.

"Adrien is definitely somebody who fully immerses himself in a role," said Dirk Hoogstra, the History Channel's general manager. "We had to make sure that he didn't immerse himself too far, like locking himself up under water."

When Brody pushed his agents to bring him a big role that would be widely seen, television was not exactly what he had in mind. He had worked continuously in film since his teenage years, winning best actor at 29 for his Nazi-tormented musician in "The Pianist." But his representatives argued that TV was a valuable opportunity. In success, "Houdini" could put Brody's acting talents in front of more than 15 million viewers and tap Hollywood on the shoulder: This guy can anchor a major project.

Brody — true to form — could not resist the chance to dig into a complex, tormented character. Houdini had long been one of Brody's favorite figures, dating back to his boyhood in New York City, when he put on magic shows in Queens as "the Amazing Adrien." He went to magic camp, performed at children's birthday parties and practiced on editors at The Village Voice, where his mother, Sylvia Plachy, was a photographer.

"I idolized Houdini as a kid," Brody said, breaking into a crooked grin. "He was the original action hero." (Obscure fact: Brody played a kidnapper named Harry Houdini in "Oxygen," a little-seen crime thriller from 1999.)

When Brody rolled up to the Sunset Marquis with hat hair and an oh-so-healthy green juice drink, I did not know what to expect. A new member of his professional coterie, a smart young Rogers & Cowan publicist, had said Brody was eager to talk candidly about his career. But celebrities tend to have a different definition of candid than reporters. Some older interviews and profiles were also troubling, painting Brody as a bit of a crank.

The man who strode into the Sunset Marquis this month was funny, warm, sensitive and a bit manic, which he said was a symptom of jet lag. He had just flown in from the Gobi Desert, where he had been filming fight scenes for "Dragon Blade," a $65 million movie that co-stars Jackie Chan. ("Jackie gave me bruises," Brody said, rolling up the sleeve of his shirt to offer evidence. "It was kind of awesome.")

Three days before arriving in China, he had been in Bulgaria, filming an especially harrowing "Septembers of Shiraz" scene; the script called for his character to lose control of his bladder while facing a firing squad. ("They gave me an apparatus to fake it, but I said, 'No, I will do it.')

Brody was definitely candid. Did it mess with his head to win an Oscar at 29? "It was beautiful, but also frightening," he said. "It made me really afraid on a lot of levels. I even stayed in a relationship that clearly didn't work because I was afraid that nobody would ever again love me for me."

He has long wanted to act in commercial movies. After "The Pianist," his former agents helped him land films that seemed like awfully good bets on paper, including "King Kong," directed by Peter Jackson, who had just completed the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. But Brody was unlucky. The over-budget and overlong "King Kong" took in $672 million worldwide in 2005, after adjusting for inflation, but Hollywood deemed it a bloated misfire.

In the last five years, Brody has appeared in 12 movies. Two went straight to DVD. Five took in less than $1 million each at the global box office, including "High School," a stoner comedy in which he played a drug dealer named Psycho Ed. One was downright terrible: "InAPPropriate Comedy," which found him cavorting in pink hot pants as a giant gay stereotype; the movie got a zero on the RottenTomatoes.com review scale.

"That was an experiment that was never supposed to be released," he said. "I'm embarrassed by it."

One recent highlight was Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris." Most of the other bright spots have come in Wes Anderson films — "The Darjeeling Limited," "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" (Brody voiced the field mouse) and "The Grand Budapest Hotel," which took in more than $171 million worldwide. Anderson said in an email that he first noticed Brody in Steven Soderbergh's 1993 drama "The King of the Hill."

"He made an immediate impression," Anderson said. "He was great in this role, gentle and heroic. And there was this wonderful face we had never seen before and one of the great voices, too." Anderson said he considers Brody "family."

Regardless of whether "Houdini" is a hit, Brody said he is proud of the work he did in the miniseries. He does have one quibble, though. The History Channel decided to disclose the secret methods Houdini used to escape. "I acquiesced because it's all available online," he said. "But a magician never reveals his tricks."

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